A few people turned their heads to look.
"Hmm? What's up, Fabian?" Reya glanced around but didn't see any patterns, causing her to ask in confusion.
"This Leather Armor Vest wasn't made by the Wild Boar Clan, Captain. Look at the stitching on it."
Upon hearing this, Raine couldn't help but squint his eyes slightly, taking a closer look.
In fact, with just a glance, he could confirm that Fabian was right.
The stitches were fine and neatly arranged, completely different from the Leather Armor made by the Wild Boar People using Bone Needle piercings.
"What's so strange about that? Maybe this Wild Boar Warrior put it on after killing an unlucky Adventurer?" Chris said indifferently.
"Alright, Chris, then tell me, unless the person happened to have a Half-Orc bloodline or was a Barbarian Adventurer with the same body size, how do you explain the size of this Leather Armor Vest?"
"But if it were a Half-Orc or Barbarian Adventurer, their strength wouldn't be weak at all."
Raine nodded at the side, Fabian's analysis was spot on.
But if that's really the case, the information revealed here is....
"Fabian, you mean this Leather Armor might have been made with a sewing machine and supplied to the Deadwater Wild Boar People through some channel?" Reya's delicate face also showed a hint of seriousness.
"Yes, Captain."
"However, just one Leather Armor Vest alone isn't enough to be convincing." Reya nodded, muttering softly.
At this moment, Raine caught a glimpse of the Wild Boar Warrior, stripped of his upper body by Fabian, and was slightly taken aback.
"Look at the wounds on the Wild Boar Warrior." Raine pointed.
The group immediately looked in the direction Raine pointed.
Although the Wild Boar had dense brown hair on their body, they could vaguely see that there were noticeable depressions in the flesh on both sides of the ribs, as if struck hard by a Heavy Weapon.
But at least among Raine's group, whether it was Grande or Chris, neither had used Heavy Weapons in the earlier battle.
"This looks like a wound caused by a Warhammer, and the wound is quite new and severe. It should have happened in the past week or two." Fabian said after examining it closely.
"A Warhammer? That's the favorite weapon of the Wild Boar People." Chris said with a hint of confusion.
"Could it be that the Wild Boar Warrior was just naturally aggressive?"
"No, I lean towards internal conflict among the Wild Boar People." At this moment, Reya chimed in.
"Hmm, I guess something happened internally within the Wild Boar Clan in the Valley of Dead Water."
"Otherwise, there's no reason why a Wild Boar Warrior would be exiled from the clan, and this Leather Armor doesn't match either... I truly can't tell what happened." Fabian shook his head.
"Whatever happened, it doesn't really concern us, nor is it something we can handle."
"Put this Wild Boar Warrior at the back of the cart. We should report this situation to the association, and leave it up to them and the Black Iron Adventurers to deal with it."
Raine nodded in agreement.
Reya and Fabian's assumptions seemed quite reasonable.
Apparently, this Challenge Level 2 Wild Boar Warrior was still injured.
Moreover, although the internal dynamics of the Dead Water Clan's Wild Boar People were unclear, it wasn't Raine's place to intervene at present, nor was there any need to.
Half an hour later.
Having collected the regular Wild Boar tusks, along with the Wild Boar Warrior's, Raine and his group once again boarded the hired carriage towards Mill Town at full speed.
Even up till now, Raine hadn't had the chance to test the effects of the Wild Boar Warrior Bloodline, merely taking quick glances at the quietly placed Wild Boar Warrior icon in the sixteen-slot bag.
However, now on the carriage, he could carefully examine the three Bloodline Talents obtained from the regular Wild Boar People.
First were 'Brute Force Lv1' and 'Thick Hide Lv1'.
'Brute Force Lv1', Effect: Power +2. (Note: Based on current physical attributes)
'Thick Hide Lv1', Effect: Constitution +2, with an extra 20% enhancement in poison resistance and puncture defense. (Note: Based on current physical attributes)
This explained why Raine's combat strength had surged after receiving these enhancements.
In melee combat, the importance of Power is self-evident.
And the increase in Constitution allowed Raine to quickly regain his stamina.
"The effect of Thick Hide not only increases Constitution but also enhances poison resistance and puncture defense. No wonder the Wild Boar People had such high resistance against poisoned Crossbow Arrows."
Yet what intrigued Raine the most was 'Sensitive Smell Lv2'.
'Sensitive Smell Lv2', Effect: Your sense of smell is enhanced, allowing you to distinctly differentiate scent remnants within an approximately 50-meter radius.
Initially, Raine was curious why this Sensitive Smell was at Level 2 instead of Level 1.
After some thought, he guessed it was because pigs have one of the most sensitive senses of smell among animals, even surpassing most dogs.
So, is the same true for Wild Boar People?
"Raine, I just realized how strong you are!" Chris remarked with his uninjured right hand, pinching Raine's bulging trapezius.
"Compared to that, your weapon... is a bit too plain."
"Haha." Raine chuckled, unsure of how to address Chris's comment.
Could he say that his muscles had just gotten bigger?
"Alright, I'm a wounded man who needs some rest." Chris joked, pointing at his injured left hand, leaning against the carriage to take a break.
A moment later, Fabian and Grande also closed their eyes slightly, whether truly asleep or just resting.
This left Raine and Reya as the only ones not at rest in the carriage.
"Raine, do you intend to become an Arcane Knight in the future?" Reya asked with a smile.
"Arcane Knight?" Raine looked at Reya curiously.
It was his first time hearing about this class.
"Oh? You don't know? Arcane Knights are a special advanced class combining warrior abilities with some Spellcasting powers." Reya said, slightly surprised.
"I thought you had such plans."
"Perhaps, I haven't decided yet." Raine replied with a smile.
In truth, Raine himself wasn't very clear on what path he would take in the future, so how could he answer that question?
"That's true, let's first become a Class member, and consider the advanced classes later." Reya nodded with a smile.
At this moment, Raine's nose twitched slightly, and he turned to look at Reya with some confusion, saying:
"Reya, are you really not injured? Why do I smell blood on you?"
"Of course not." Reya blinked with some confusion.
But the next second, she seemed to realize something, her beautiful face blushing slightly as she glared at Raine, before turning to look out the window.
Hmm?
Raine shook his head in confusion.
After a few more seconds, he suddenly understood.
This left him feeling a bit embarrassed as he turned his gaze outside.
All along the journey, Raine was trying to ignore the myriad of strange smells he encountered in non-combat situations.
As a passive ability, completely blocking it out wasn't possible.
But it's similar to vision, where a person subconsciously ignores most of the objects seen, focusing on specific ones.
Another example is that pigs, despite having such a keen sense of smell, live in a stinky pigsty without being overwhelmed, due to subconscious ignoring.
Raine was also adapting to these changes.
Under the warm afternoon sun filtering through the gaps of the carriage top, Raine, exhausted, gradually closed his eyes in the thrill.
....